Callum Scott Howells To Star in Frankie Goes to Hollywood Biopic

Biopic Movie

2023-05-11
14:03

1980s English pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, known for their queer and sexually provocative songs, will be the center of an upcoming biopic, and it will star queer actor Callum Scott Howells (‘It’s a Sin’).

The biopic announcement came just after Frankie Goes to Hollywood made a reunion for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, the first time the band came together in four decades.

Howells will play the role of the band’s frontman, Holly Johnson. “Excited and honored,” Howells said in an Instagram post as he shared a screenshot of an article of him and the film announcement.

The film will be titled ‘Relax’, named after the band’s 1982 hit single, and will be based on Johnson’s memoir, “A Bone in My Flute” which charts his childhood in Liverpool up to his HIV diagnosis in 1993. The biopic is described to be “hilarious, outrageous, and [a] revolutionary tale of [a] UK band and the creation of their infamous hit single.”

Interestingly, the film will be written by Bernard Rose, the same director of the original “Relax” music video as well as the 1992 horror film ‘Candyman’.

Rose commented on how the idea of the biopic came about. “Combining the wit of The Beatles, the power of The Rolling Stones and the outrage of the Sex Pistols, Frankie Goes To Hollywood went from unemployed Liverpudlians to Kings of pop on the back of their epic banned record ‘Relax’,” he said. “Their epic rise, bringing the then deeply underground S+M and LGBTQ club scene screaming into the limelight, is the energetic and moving story of underdogs that win one for the ages.”

“Relax” is one of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s songs, alongside “Two Tribes” and “The Power of Love”. The band’s usually provocative and sexual themes led to them getting banned by the BBC in the 80s.

As of writing time, there is no date yet for the release of ‘Relax’. It is expected though that the film will explore the band’s cultural impact and the dynamics between the members.

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